The Princess With a Hidden Edge

Synopsis

I was born wrong. That was the only way to put it. And somehow, I ended up in a family like the Coles, devout, charitable, the kind of people who donated to every cause in town and said grace before every meal. My parents lived by discipline and moral rules. My older brother was the perfect public servant with a clean record and flawless reputation. My oldest sister was so gentle that she wouldn't even hurt an insect. And then there was me. Ruthless. Vindictive. The kind of person who never knew when to let things go. My parents worried themselves sick over me. "The Cole family has spent generations building up a clean reputation," they'd say. "At this rate, you're going to drag the family name through the mud." I just waved them off. "Relax. Every time I do something wrong, I'll light a candle in the family shrine. "If it stays lit, I'll take it as the ancestors' approval." My parents exchanged a glance, uncertain how to respond. "Does it work like that?" Why wouldn't it? But to ease their guilt, I always balanced every questionable thing I did with ten good deeds on the side. Somehow, it backfired. I ended up with a reputation as calm, gentle, almost unnervingly saintly, an agreeable young woman who donated to charity and never raised her voice. Meanwhile, the crown prince was hopelessly in love with his favored concubine and convinced his future wife would make her life miserable. So he decided the safest choice was to marry the most harmless, unremarkable noble woman he could find. Unfortunately for him, he picked me. The wrong kind of harmless.